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GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY. 



AUSTIN S. GARVER. 



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GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY 



AUSTIN S. GARVER. 



From Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, at the 
Semi-Annual Meeting held in Boston, April 30, 1902. 



WORCESTER, M ASS.: 

PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 

311 MAIN S T R E E T . 

19 2. 






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GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY. 



There is a very real sense in which Greece is the native 
land of us all ; for we are re-born there consciously or 
unconsciously, before we truly live. The mind that has 
been touched by Homer, or Plato, or Pindar, or Phidias 
has a feeling of home for the land in which they lived. 
All its interests have a peculiar hold upon us, appealing as 
they do to the affections as well as to the imagination. 

A residence of two months in Athens, although it be 
enriched by association with the American School there, 
and supplemented by excursions in the vicinity, and in the 
Peloponnesus as far as Sparta, does not entitle one to 
speak with authority upon archaeological subjects, but 
it gives one many new and profound impressions of the 
country and its people. The companionable size of Greece, 
the beauty of its scenery, in" which mountain, sea and 
plain conspire together, the indescribable brilliancy of its 
atmosphere, the thrilling character of the associations in 
which every scene is rich, the vividness of ancient tradi- 
tions, the fresh vitality of the modern spirit, the simplic- 
ity, dignity and graciousness of much of the life of the 
people today, all unite to make a visit to Greece one of 
the memorable experiences of life. 

It is a marvel that the Greeks have survived at all : 
greater marvel still that they have come through all the 
centuries of oppression and misery with the best traditions 
of the past so strong, and with so much that is gentle and 
unspoiled in private character. And this fresh, new 
national life is showing itself in many Interesting ways. 



The city of Athens is itself a good illustration. It is as 
modern as any western capital ; the visitor can lodge as 
well there as in Paris, he finds all the conveniences of 
travel and residence to which he is accustomed, and this 
year he will be able to ride in an electric car to the sum- 
mer resort on the bay of Phaleron. The city has charac- 
teristics more truly its own. The cleanness of its streets, 
the sober dignity of its houses, the severe elegance of the 
costlier architecture, the cataracts of roses that in May roll 
out over the walls along the street, show how strong the 
love of beauty still is. The fine new buildings for the 
Academy, the Polytechnic, the National Museum, as well 
as those for schools and gymnasiums, which have all been 
erected at the expense of private individuals, are the evi- 
dence that the public spirit and the noble national pride 
which have marked the race are not extinct. We know 
how intense was the attachment of the ancient Athenian to 
his native city ; something of that same love still lingers 
there, giving to the city, new as it is, a feeling and flavor 
of age, so that what else would be too modern seems to 
be seasoned with antiquity. 

Besides, the ancient world lives side by side with the 
modern ; it lives in the speech of the people, so that if 
you call a cab on the street, you use Homer's word for 
carriage ; it lives in the names which parents give their 
children ; it lives in the great temples and other monu- 
ments which still exist ; and above all it lives in the frag- 
ments which have been long buried in the earth, and which 
in the last thirty years the spade of the archaeologist has 
brought to light. 

The charm which the traveller feels in Greece is largely 
due to this blending of the old and the new in all his im- 
pressions. In no other country do the antiquities so 
connect themselves with the life of to-day. In no other 
country is there a more general interest and veneration for 
the past, a greater eagerness to search for every possible 



trace of it that may still exist, or a more scrupulous care 
to preserve every vestige of its life. This interest was 
shown as long ago as 1858 in the founding of the Greek 
Archaeological Society. From that time dates a new era 
in Greek studies, though it was still many years before 
important work was done. The Greeks were too poor to 
bear the cost of unearthing the sites of cities and temples ; 
they were too jealous to allow the work to be done by 
others. They were wise enough to recognize the necessity 
of aid from outside, and gradually, concessions were 
granted for the cooperation of foreign scholars. This 
wider interest is shown in the establishment in Athens of 
the various national schools of archaeology-. First was 
the French, dating from near the middle of the last cen- 
tury ; then came the German in 1874, the American in 
1882, and the British in 1886. 

Moreover it was some time before the scope and method 
of the new science of archaeology were determined, or 
before it obtained recognition as a science at all. Scholars 
who had been bred in the literary traditions, and who re- 
lied on the classic authors as the sources for the history, 
were inclined to scorn the pretensions of the humble ally, 
coming with shovel and wheelbarrow. When Schliemann 
began his excavations at Hissarlik in 1871, and when a 
few years later he reported the results of his labors there 
and at Mycenae, he was ridiculed as an enthusiast, which 
he certainly was, and as an impractical dreamer, which he 
certainly was not. His conclusions have been revised, but 
his patient, systematic method showed the way for all who 
came after him. His example and success made it easier 
to persuade the German Government to appropriate large 
sums of money for the excavations at Olympia, and before 
that work was completed in 1881, scientific journals, for 
the purpose of recording and discussing the results ob- 
tained in the whole field of Greek archaeology, were estab- 
lished in nearly every civilized land. The "Journal of 



Hellenic Studies," one the' most valuable of these publica- 
tions, begun in 1880, attests the great interest the new 
science had excited anions: British and American scholars. 
Year by year the work has been carried forward, until 
now most of the important sites have been uncovered. 
Each year vast and revolutionary additions have been 
made to the sum of knowledge. 

It is not my purpose in this brief paper to describe the 
progress or the achievements of the science of archaeology, 
or to tell, as would be most gratifying, of the efficient and 
prominent part taken by our American school. I am con- 
cerned only with a few broad features which show how 
much the world is indebted to this newest of the sciences. 
The least of its services is the new light which it has 
thrown upon many a disputed point in classic history. 
The literary evidence alone is often conflicting and always 
meagre, and it has happened frequently that the discovery 
of a tablet, or inscription, or coin, has set at rest some 
question of place or date. A striking instance is furnished 
by the excavations at ^Egina during the past year. It had 
been taken for granted that the temple there was erected 
in honor of Athena, because the central figure in one of 
the pediment groups was the statue of that goddess. In 
the spring of 1901, a few German scholars determined to 
make a more thorough examination of the site. Every 
handful of earth down to the solid rock was carefully 
sifted, and while no great finds were made, new material 
of extraordinary importance for the history of JEgina and 
of Greek civilization was discovered : anions,' other things 
an inscription which proved that the temple belonged not 
to Athena, but to a local deity, Aphrea, and with the 
settlement of that question there came a fresh glimpse of 
the nature of Greek religion. 

So it is that archaeology brings back what had been 
utterly lost. Let me remind you of another example. For 
centuries no one knew where to look for one of the most 



ancient and venerated spots in Greece, — the dwelling of 
the spirit which, speaking through the leaves of the sacred 
oak, had guided half the world. The site of Dodona and 
its sanctuary of Zeus, had long been a subject of hopeless 
speculation. Colonel Leake, the English traveller, in 
1835 lamented that all trace of it was lost beyond recov- 
ery. Every effort to locate it was fruitless. At last, 
about 1877, the finding of a large number of oracle inscrip- 
tions with dedications to Zeus, set the matter finally at 
rest. 

But beyond the useful task of elucidation and verifica- 
tion, archaeological studies have immensely expanded our 
knowledge ; they have opened into regions quite unknown 
before ; the whole field of Greek history has been illumi- 
nated and widened, and a closer acquaintance with the 
manners and customs of the people has been made possi- 
ble. Professor Gardner of Oxford has published a large 
volume with the significant title, "New Chapters in Greek 
History." Every work on sculpture written twenty years 
ago would need to have large sections of wholly new mate- 
rial added to it, to bring it up to date ; while the excava- 
tions now in progress in Crete, taken in connection with 
others made elsewhere, are furnishing the data for the 
reconstruction in great detail of a prehistoric Mycenaean 
civilization, which has hitherto been dim and mythical. 
From bits of pottery, coins and ornaments, from the wide 
distribution of similar objects all round the Mediterranean, 
from the evidences of wealth and architecture and com- 
merce, has been constructed bit by bit the life of a mighty 
people, long antecedent to the historic Greeks. So great 
and revolutionary have been the results, that all Greek 
history has had to be rewritten from these new sources. 
Grote, for instance, who completed his monumental work 
in 1856, has a single reference to Mycenae. All that he 
says of it is that it was the seat of a mythical race of kings. 
Since then Mycenae has yielded up its secrets. Schliemann 



discovered the graves of its heroes, whose treasures are 
one of the glories of the incomparable museum at Athens ; 
and more recently, the palace of these mighty kings of 
prehistoric days has been brought to light on the Acropo- 
lis of Mycense, telling much of the splendor in which they 
lived ; and more recently still, as I have said, abundant 
traces of this ancient civilization have been found on the 
coasts and islands of the Mediterranean. 

But the greatest service which archaeology renders to 
the ordinary student is its aid to the imagination. It 
touches the senses and through them wakes the spirit. To 
read a description of a scene from a book is one thing, to 
behold it with your eyes is another. I have still a leap of 
the heart when I recall the view from the top of Hymettus, 
one of the most thrilling views in the world. To the east 
was the strait separating the mainland from Eubcea, while 
the islands extended far alone: the horizon in an ever 
fainter line. To the south was the narrow mountainous 
promontory of Sunium, with its gleaming temple ; beyond 
was the wide sweep of the deep blue waters of the Saronic 
gulf, with iEgina and Salamis in their midst; almost 
within reach were the Piraeus and the curved beach of 
Phaleron.' To the southwest, range behind range rose the 
headlands and mountains of the Peloponnesus, the higher 
summits covered with snow. To the west, the snowy 
back of Parnassus was lifted to the sky, the most imposing 
of the mountains that circled around to the north. And 
there, hemmed in by this mountain wall, in this most 
majestic, and most lovely setting, was the little Attic 
plain, with the city and acropolis in its centre. That was 
the day I saw Greece, and it was an impression such as 
could never be obtained from books. 

So it is with the history. It is by contact with the real 
objects with which it deals that it gains a wonderful vivid- 
ness and reality. When we take in our hands the very 
things which the ancients handled, the utensils they made 



and used, the ornaments they wore ; when we see their 
cups and swords and gems ; when we note their burial cus- 
toms, in which painted vase and sculptured relief reveal 
the thought of the living for the dead, — we are brought 
near to them, and seem to share the thoughts of which 
these objects are but the symbols. Greek life was the 
most objective of lives, and Greek archaeology by discov- 
ering the actual objects, has aided in restoring the most 
characteristic pictures of that life. High as is its service 
to science in increasing knowledge, it is to be honored 
yet more for its service to humanity in making that old 
life live again, and thus helping us recognize the "hills 
where our life rose " from which health still comes. For 
one might say of Greece itself what a Roman poet of the 
time of Augustus said of Eleusis : " Though thy life be 
fixed in one place, and thou neither sailest the sea, nor 
treadest the paths of the dry land, go at least to Eleusis, 
that thou mayest see those great mights, sacred to Deme- 
ter, through which thou shalt keep thy soid serene among 
the living, and go to join the great host with a lighter 
heart." 



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